Cloud Of Impropriety Rises Above Air Fair

April 12, 1985|By Jeffrey Moore, Staff Writer

POMPANO BEACH — While the public is watching the stunt planes at this weekend`s Pompano Air Fair, the city will be watching cash trade hands at the gate.

City officials are resorting to surveillance this year because of glaring discrepancies among estimates of the proceeds last year and because the show`s sponsors refuse to divulge their profits. That means the city does not know whether charities, which will net $5,000 from this year`s show, are getting enough.

``I`ll be looking at the size of the crowd,`` City Manager James Soderlund said Thursday, without elaborating on the methods the city will employ.

The city is forcing the show`s sponsors, John Becker and his son Brian, to donate $5,000 to charity. It turned out that $5,300 in donations they made last year, while touted as ``charitable,`` were actually turned over to aviation groups and clubs, the majority of which worked for the show.

If the city can get an idea of this year`s attendance, said Vice Mayor Herb Skolnick, it will have a better bargaining position when the Beckers return for permission to stage the 1986 air show. The aerial extravaganza is staged on city property at Pompano Air Park.

``Very simply, next year we`ll be in better possession of facts and figures, and the city should adjust the arrangement,`` Skolnick said.

The Beckers own Pompano Air Center, or PAC, the sole sponsor of this year`s show. Last year, the air center co-sponsored the show with the North Broward Kiwanis Club, which conceived the event as a charitable fund-raiser.

Afterward, Kiwanis estimated attendance at 20,000, but said it lost money. They later charged that the Beckers took advantage of them, controlling the gate receipts and refusing to divulge their profits.

The Beckers, who alone knew the exact attendance, offered a variety of figures, starting at 13,500, then about 9,000, then 11,000, then 15,400, according to various newspaper reports. The Beckers then accused Kiwanis of being inept and of bungling the organization of the show.

Finally, the Beckers won exclusive control over the air fair, on the recommendation of the city`s Air Park Advisory Board. The board has five members, four of whom have had their own airplanes serviced by the Beckers, air park director Morgan Rankin said.

Last October, the Kiwanians announced before the City Commission that they were withdrawing because the Beckers had agreed to make a contribution to a ``charitable organization.``

Commissioner Skolnick asked how much. The chairman of the advisory board, Richard Avery, told the commission the information was privileged. Avery offered his assurances, however, that the Beckers` donations were ``most fair`` and were provided to ``non-profit, charitable organizations.``

Two months passed before the commission learned the ``charities`` were three aviation groups that received $5,300 between them: a foundation for stunt pilots, a club for stunt pilots and a local squadron of the Civil Air Patrol. Volunteers from both the stunt club and nearly 100 teen-age cadets from the Civil Air Patrol worked at the show.

Commissioner Michael Gomes said it appeared the ``charitable contributions were in lieu of wages.``

Brian Becker said the identity of the ``charities`` should never have been a mystery to a keen observer. ``You could come out to the air park (last year) and see who was working,`` he said.